Mesa State 3, CSU-Pueblo 0 

By Simone Peinkofer

The ThunderWolves showed flashes of brilliance vs. Mesa State Saturday, but always seemed one step behind the Mavericks, losing three sets to none in a match that was much closer than the score indicates.

The Pack entered the match having lost three straight meetings with the Mavs, but the T-Wolves expected to play with Mesas State and win this game.

"We expected to play and win," said head coach Chris Jonson

After a short period of time, where the ThunderWolves had to find into their game, the Mesa State Mavericks led 9-4 in the first set. But then the T-Wolves got into the flow of the game, and both teams fought hard for their points. After a tie of 19-19, the Mavs took control and finally won the set 25-22.

The second set began with amazing moves, and both teams tried hard to defend the ball. The ThunderWolves got the set tied at 12-12, and kept on playing strong, but soon got unfocused and showed several inaccuracies. In the end, the strength of the ThunderWolves was not enough to win the second set. They lost 25-19.

Also during the third set, the game stayed on a very high level. The ThunderWolves stayed close with the Mavs.  The Pack was able to run the match to a 12-12 tie, but again, they were not able to take the dominating role over the Mavs. Mesa State went on a 6-1 run to take an 18-13 lead, later earning the match win with a 25-17 victory.

Jonson said that the ThunderWolves' youth was a deciding factor against the Mavericks, which entered the match undefeated in RMAC play and leading the RMAC West Division.

"We have a young team, but we will get better the next weeks," he said.

CSU-Pueblo was led by Megan Koop (Fr., Littleton, Colo.) with nine kills, and Bernadette Pitre (So., Clifton, Colo.) and Alea Wildman (So., Denver, Colo.) with six kills each.